That granular stuff you may have sprinkled on this morning's breakfast and did so without giving a second's thought? That stuff your doctor may have told you should be used in moderation? The stuff they put on roads in wintertime to melt the ice? The same stuff you put in with the ice when making ice cream? Lots of this same stuff in Earth's oceans. Lots of it. Stuff so common and prosaic you almost never think about it: Salt.
Next time you see a grain of salt, try to imagine what it might look like if you were the size of an atom, looking at a tiny, tiny crystal of salt from the inside out. I wondered that myself, and so I put my keen interest in photorealistic computer graphics to work, used up lots of electricity and took a (theoretical) peek.
This is only a model, of course. It has to be because the wavelengths and intensity of electromagnetic radiation needed to actually see these scenes at atomic scales would completely vaporize the subject (and the observer)! I have also taken the liberty of stripping-away all but the innermost electron orbitals so as to make it easier to see the crystal's structure.
Note: These scenes are all taken from a single 16,000 by 8,000 pixel master CGI (#1, below) which is still rendering on my other machines, even now. I'm estimating about 66 hours for it to completely render the 360-degree, spherical image suitable for IMAX projection. Because your screen is flat, the master image will look warped. But when it is mathematically 'wrapped' onto a sphere, one in center of which you imagine you are standing, it looks just fine and looks as though you were in the middle of that crystal. (A projection technique very similar to that used by cartographers for making flat maps of round Earths. 
Each image [a screen capture] is 1600 wide x 700 pixels high, more or less.)
The model itself contains slightly over two million spheres arrayed as a cubic crystal. In real life this crystal would be far too tiny to be seen even with an optical microscope. You'd need an electron microscope just to see the crystal, let alone being able to see its innards.
In the scenes that follow you are looking at a representation of an object which, in reality, would measure only three hundredths of a micron on a side.
Enjoy!
1. The Master CGI from which all the others were taken, 73% complete.
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2. The detailed 3D Moiré pattern was a pleasant surprise and has an almost fractal-esque 'feel' about it.
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11. The center of the crystal is marked using an atom of Red Matter. 
Incredible, really, how such beauty exists right under our noses without us even knowing it. Possibly also on those scrambled eggs, bacon and, if you haven't had your coffee yet, toast. 
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That's it for now. Hope you enjoyed the show.
Unexpected Beauty in Everyday Things: Table Salt
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